03.02.11

I noticed a friends profile picture the other day was a banner that has the date 03.02.11 on it so I googled the date and found a very interesting campaign!

"Spread the word, to End the word"

The word that the campaign is working to end is the use of the word retard/ed.

Unfortunately, I must admit this is a word that I use often when just joking around with someone or even describing something....but after reading over information on the campaign site and seeing a few of the videos I am working to become more aware of not using the word retarded in a derogatory manner.

In the video below Johnny Knoxville makes a great point - this is not about being politically correct this is about not hurting people! I could care less about not using this word to remain politically correct but I want to avoid it because I never want to hurt anyone.

Think about how often you are out and about and you overhear other peoples conversations, I even catch myself sometimes not paying attention to the person I am talking to in order to hear what the strangers are saying....those people have no idea I am listening just like I have no idea when there are ears around that overhear me saying something, and God forbid, I say "My phone is being so retarded" or something along those lines and I hurt someones feelings that's standing near me.
Regardless, if it is a stranger or not, they cannot help that they have a disability and I in no way want them to feel like I am comparing their disability to my cell phone being dumb.
We have to also remember to be aware not just by the people who have physical traits as Down Syndrome can display, but Autism, Ashberger's and the list goes on of disabilities that are not always visible to the eye-you never know what a person has going on in their life or if they are listening!

Make sense? Watch the video below and maybe that can shed more light. The video is from last year but you can still get the point. If you want to also pledge your support and commit to being more aware of helping to end the use of this word in a derogatory sense then visit the campaign site  Spread the Word to End the Word or check out their Facebook Page to find out more!!




xoxo,
Faith